XN000022-1980-08-20 — Page 18

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However, strengthening District Boards will serve no

purpose unless the Government itself is able to react positively to

advice received either by taking action or by providing a sound

explanation why not. Regional Offices must therefore be progressively

staffed by officers with sufficient experience, authority and resources

to solve local problems.

There will be implications too for the way in which

departments are organised; with a new emphasis on a regional or district

base. In the New Territories some departments like the New Territories

Administration itself, the Police and the Public Works Department are

already largely so deployed. Some others will have to adjust and this

will take time but it must happen and is happening. For instance the

Urban Services Department has already set up the New Territories Services

Department as an independent component with regional officers appointed

at the level of Assistant Director. Similarly the Social Welfare Department

has been reorganised on a regional basis. All departments whose activities

directly impinge upon the daily life of people in each District have been

asked to examine how they can adapt themselves to this new order, so that

they will be in a better position both to receive and to respond to the

advice and requests of the residents of each District quickly and

constructively.

In the midst of these exciting physical and social changes

I have to thank you, Mr Lau, for your timely advice, not to overlook the

needs of villages. I am glad to say that electricity is being connected

to some of the few remaining villages in Sai Kung without a supply, and

that the